The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Monday requested testimony from three additional members of Congress, including some who “participated in meetings at the White House and had direct conversations with President Trump leading up to and during the attack on the Capitol,” the committee wrote in part. 

What You Need To Know

  • The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Monday requested testimony from three additional members of Congress

  • The nine-panel committee requested cooperation from Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas

  • The letter came weeks after investigators revealed new evidence of the three lawmakers' involvement in former President Donald Trump’s desperate attempt to stay in power

Committee chairman Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., requested cooperation from Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, asking them to “provide information for the committee's investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and its causes.” 

"The Select Committee has learned that several of our colleagues have information relevant to our investigation into the facts, circumstances, and causes of January 6th,” Thompson and Cheney wrote in a statement. “As we work to provide answers to the American people about that day, we consider it a patriotic duty for all witnesses to cooperate. We urge our colleagues to join the hundreds of individuals who have shared information with the Select Committee as we work to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th."

The nine-member panel is asking for the members of Congress to testify about their involvement in meetings at the White House, direct conversations with Trump as he sought to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election as well as the planning and coordination of rallies on and before Jan. 6, 2021.

The letter came weeks after investigators revealed new evidence of the three lawmakers' involvement in former President Donald Trump’s desperate attempt to stay in power. Reps. Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Ronny Jackson are members of the ultra-right House Freedom Caucus that have in recent years aligned themselves with Trump.

A recently-publicized text exchange between members of the right-wing extremist group the Oath Keepers shows that some individuals in the group were looking to protect Rep. Jackson from rioters on Jan 6. The panel wants to known why the congressman was singled out.

Jackson, a former White House physician to two presidents, emerged as a vocal Trump ally, but his nomination as Veterans Affairs secretary was withdrawn amid allegations that he created a hostile work environment and improperly distributed prescription drugs. Jackson strenuously denied those claims, and went on to run for Congress from Texas.

The decision to ask for Brooks’ cooperation comes weeks after the Alabama Republican accused Trump of dropping an endorsement for him after he rebuffed the former president’s entreaties to help overturn the 2020 election.

A request for comment from Jackson and Brooks was not immediately returned.

The committee’s interest in Biggs is on the heels of an April 22 court filing where lawmakers accused him of being an active participant in meetings that took place in the White House after the 2020 election where he and other Republicans brainstormed ways to keep Trump in power. He is also accused of encouraging protesters to come to Washington on Jan. 6 as well as persuading state legislators and officials that the election was stolen.

In an interview last week, Biggs didn’t deny his public efforts to challenge the election results but called the recent reports about his deep involvement untrue. “I’ve seen my name. There were three articles today, and they were filled with untruths,” he told The Associated Press.

On Monday afternoon, Biggs tweeted he would "not be participating in the illegitimate and Democrat-sympathizing House Jan. 6 committee panel."

 

"The committee operates with the same kind of bias present at the Salem Witch Trials. Everyone is guilty and must demonstrate their innocence. They are basing their witch-hunt on dubious media accounts," Biggs went on to say in a series of subsequent tweets. "How the media received this letter and had their stories written before it was shared with me is concerning and reveals foul play. Republican leadership should remove Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger from representing the party in this committee."

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.